Alternanthera from the Latin 'alternus' meaning alternate and 'anthera' meaning anthers, referring to the filaments without anthers often alternate with fertile stamens. Angustifolia from the Latin 'angustus' meaning narrow and 'folium' meaning leaf, referring to the narrow leaf of the species.

Distribution:

Found in the north and north-eastern parts of South Australia growing in sandy soil on creeks and river banks. Also found in Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.

Pale brown, semi-flat fruit to 2 mm long with 5 papery bracts and covered in hairs.

Seed type:

Orange to brown reniform seed to 1.5 mm long.

Embryo type:

Peripheral.

Seed collecting:

Collect mature fruits, those that are turning a pale straw colour and contain very small brown seeds. Can collect individual spike or break off the whole stem.

Seed cleaning:

Place the fruit in a tray and leave to dry for two weeks. Then rub the fruits gently by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Be careful as the seeds are very small, less than 2mm across. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place.

Seed viability:

Not all fruit will contain a seed. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 90%.

Seed germination:

Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.

Seeds stored:

Location

No. of seeds(weight grams)

Numberof plants

Datecollected

Collection numberCollection location

Datestored

% Viability

Storagetemperature

BGA

18000 (10.64 g)

20+

9-May-2007

RJB71593Lake Eyre

19-Sep-2008

95%

-18°C

Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.